PREP BASKETBALL: Cardinals hold off Roseburg 50-47

By Stephen Alexander

The Portland Tribune, Mar 6, 2010

A closely fought game between the Lincoln Cardinals and Roseburg Indians came down to Roseburg’s last possession Saturday.

Roseburg hoisted up a last-second 3-pointer to try to send the game into overtime. Lincoln's senior point guard, JD Esters, swatted the shot away and the Cardinals escaped with a 50-47 win to move into the state tournament quarterfinals Thursday against McKay at the Rose Garden.

Blocking the shot “was a lot better than watching it go in,” Esters said, with a smile. “Knowing you don’t have to go into overtime, it’s a great feeling.”

The game was tight the entire time. The first quarter saw six lead changes. Neither team led by more than seven points. At the end of the first quarter, Lincoln took a 17-15 lead. Roseburg would never go ahead again.

As close as the game was, Lincoln seemed to be in control most of the way. Both Cardinal coach David Adelman and Esters said that it did not feel that way. But Lincoln played so smoothly at both ends of the floor that it created, perhaps, a false sense of control.

Roseburg matched the Cardinals with its own smoothness as a team. For 48 minutes, both teams looked almost like mirror images of each other. Both teams played very tight defense. The offenses were not flashy but utilized patience, spread the ball around and looked to find opportunities to score.

For the PIL 6A champion Cardinals (20-6), senior wing Anthony Hagger scored 18 points. Esters and Kris Montoya each added 10.

Roseburg (16-8), the No. 3 seed from the Southwest Conference, got most of its offense from junior forward Micah Audiss, who had a game-high 24 points. No one else scored in double digits.

“We had the lead pretty much the whole game after the first quarter,” Adelman said. “That’s a tribute to JD (Esters). He can control pace, whether you’re playing fast or playing slow. That’s an advantage I have as a coach. That’s not coaching, that’s just a great point guard.”

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